


Scenes from an Inquisition - Well, Did You Evah

by Schattenriss



Series: The Contours of Shadows [8]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bad Decisions, Humor, M/M, Magic, Relationship Discussions, Well of Sorrows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 15:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10879806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schattenriss/pseuds/Schattenriss
Summary: Despite Dorian specifically asking him not to do it, Kai chose to drink the Well of Sorrows. Now they're back at Skyhold and Dorian has a few things to say about that.





	Scenes from an Inquisition - Well, Did You Evah

I leapt through the eluvian and fancied I could hear Corypheus’s roar of thwarted anger behind me. There was a brief sensation of passing through a curtain of electricity, or perhaps light made semi-solid, and I half-stumbled out, looking around to check that Dorian and my companions were all safe. It seemed we’d arrived in Morrigan’s eluvian room in Skyhold. 

_Well, isn’t that convenient,_ I thought, and wondered how she’d engineered it so we didn’t have to trudge through the Crossroads to get from the Temple of Mythal to Skyhold.

Morrigan looked at us all and said, “It is done.”

“Lovely. Then you can go tell Leliana and Josie how we managed to beat Cullen, our troops and our allies back from  the Arbor Wilds by at least several days. I imagine they’ll want to send a raven or two down there explaining they don’t need to look for us,” I said.

“I?” Morrigan frowned at me. “You are the Inquisitor.”

“Yeah, well the Inquisitor has his head stuffed full of ancient elf at the moment. I need some time, and you know as much or more about what just happened as I do.” I took off my gauntlets and set about loosening the straps on my armour.

She started to say something, paused and sighed gustily. “Very well. I wish you luck with assimilating something you are not equipped to fully comprehend. When should I tell them you will be available for debriefing?”

“When Cullen gets back. Thanks ever so, Morrigan,” I said with treacly insincerity and looked to Dorian. “Shall we?”

“Let’s.” 

We walked out of the room side by side, with Bull and Sera falling in behind us. We crossed the gardens and stopped near the door to the main building.

“I’ll catch you later, Boss,” Bull said. “Wouldn’t mind cleaning up and doing a little decompressing myself. Maybe find out what the Chargers get up to when the Chief is away. You coming, Sera?”

She nodded, looking annoyed. “Yeah, I guess. That place was way too hot and buggy. Wish I had a private shower like you two.”

“You want to attend all the policy meetings and ‘Meet the Inquisitor’ luncheons that come along with that shower?” I asked. I resisted the urge to look around me; I could hear a crowd of people talking and complaining nearby. I’d been hearing it since I drank the Well of Sorrows.

She wrinkled her nose at me. “Yech. No thanks.”

“Or you could sleep with the Inquisitor,” Bull suggested.

She laughed. “Get stuffed, you! Sorry, Kai, but I’ll leave that to Dorian and take my chances with the public showers, I think.”

“Most kind of you. I have made it into something of a specialization,” Dorian said.

“And he’s very good at it,” I added.  “If Josie’s not around you could sneak into her place and use her private bath.”

“I bet she’s got little soaps that look like flowers and daft animals,” Sera said with a smirk.

“And bath oils.” Bull looked as though he was picturing something not repeatable in polite company.

We paused to watch Morrigan stride past us without so much as a glance of acknowledgement and disappear through the door. As it swung shut Sera stuck her tongue out at the dark-haired mage’s back. “Poncey wanker.  Did _she_ tell the mirror to drop us here?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” I said. 

I felt like sticking my tongue out at Morrigan too. My mind felt…crowded, and the collective elven essences wouldn’t bloody shut up, but after her _magey-er than thou_ attitude I was damned if I was going to ask her what to do about it. I told them to shut up and clamped down on that part of my mind as best I could.

Sera was still scowling at the door Morrigan had gone through. “Yeah, well, I dunno about you lot, but in my head that’s creepy. _All_ of this was creepy. Kai, you shouldn’t’ve drank that thing. Nothing good comes from elfy shite that’s that old, or _any_ shite that’s that old. Dorian, you should tell him why I’m right. He listens to you.”

“On occasion, anyway,” Dorian said.

She gave a short laugh and looked down at herself with a scowl. “ _Augh._ I need to get this armour off and not think about things that should’ve been dead, yeah?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” I said. 

“You serious about taking a break till Cullen gets back, Boss?” Bull asked.

“Yes. We didn’t expect to be back this soon, which means nothing got scheduled for us, so I fully plan on taking advantage of that.” _Now if I could just get that crowd of ancient fucking elves in my head to shut up._

“Good. Just remember not to let them schedule something when they realize you’re here.”

“That’s not going to happen. Right now I want out of this bloody armour, so if you don’t mind, we’ll continue this conversation another time.”

“Sounds good, Boss. See you later.”

The two of them set off to the inn. I looked questioningly at Dorian. “You’re being unusually quiet.”

He gave me a small smile. “I’m just rather spent and dying to remove my own armour and divest myself of the portion of the Arbor Wilds that has been trying to remain stuck to me no matter how many ways I’ve tried to get rid of it. Not to mention the amount of water we had to wade through has wreaked havoc on my boots despite the protection spells.”

I got the feeling there was more to it than that, but was willing to let it go for now. I felt impossibly grubby too, along with other, more troubling annoyances. The constant background babbling was getting on my nerves. 

We walked through the door into the great hall. Until we’d built a back door, it had been the only way to reach our quarters. Usually we snuck in through the back, but at the moment I didn’t care about having to wade through the gauntlet of courtiers, visitors and hangers-on. I wasn’t about to talk to any of them. I flagged down a servant and instructed him to have food and drink delivered to the suite, cast a _don’t notice me_ spell over both of us to deter anyone from attempting to approach and made it through the door by the throne unscathed. As soon as it was shut, I warded it so only the staff could open it.

We climbed the stairs, removed our armour (it went into a heap for the staff to remove and clean) and dropped onto the couch to await our meal.

I sighed, rubbed my eyes and said, “Do you want in the shower first or should I?” (I’d had them install the private shower shortly after Dorian moved in. The water came from a large tank that had been installed on the roof; we’d devised a spell that kept it heated. It and the private water closet were two of the things I liked best about Skyhold.)

He pulled off his right boot with a grunt. “Go ahead. You don’t take as long. _Venhedis,_ how did I get another hole in my sock?”

“A mystery for the ages,” I quipped. “Are you sure you’re all right? You seem…upset.”

“Let’s just get cleaned up and fortified for the moment. I feel tired and out of sorts and distressingly unkempt.” 

“You do look rather charmingly scruffy,” I said.

“I believe I’ll leave the permanent stubble look to you. If we both do it we’re liable to look far too precious together,” he said with a teasing smile. “If they come while you’re in the shower shall I tell them to bring something alcoholic for later?” He pulled the left boot off and stretched.

“Yes, that’d be wonderful. I’ll try not to take too long.” I grabbed a towel out of the armoire and made my way to the shower.

Once I’d gotten the worst of the accumulated ick that comes with sweating into leather armour off me, I took a few extra minutes to just let the water pound against my skin. It was warm and relaxing, both of which I needed. I hadn’t said anything to anyone yet, but the effects of drinking the blasted Well of Sorrows were starting to worry me. It was like being on the other side of the wall from a neighbour’s party — I could hear a constant susurrus of conversation, but couldn’t make out what they were saying (and it was probably in elvhen anyway).  Blocking them was getting increasingly difficult. I put it down to fatigue, but couldn’t help wondering if I was wrong.

Before Dorian could legitimately accuse me of both hogging the shower and using up all the hot water, I turned it off, shivering in the sudden cold that was the one constant at Skyhold. I cast a small heat spell to compensate, pulled on clean clothes and emerged into the main room to find the food had just arrived. The next while was occupied with eating, then I waited while Dorian finally got his shower. 

It was full dark by the time he was done. I’d already lit both the fire and the lights by the time he emerged from the shower, hair still damp and charmingly spiky. 

“I must say, this is vastly preferable to spending the better part of a fortnight wending our way home on horseback,” he said, accepting the glass of wine I handed him as he sat next to me on the couch. “Thank you.” He took a drink and sighed.

“You’re welcome.”  I drank some of my beer and slouched deeper into the couch.  “Too bad we can’t travel that way every time.”

He made a noise of agreement, raked his hands through his hair and fixed me with an unhappy look.

“What’s wrong?  You look like you’ve just been told pleats have come back into style.”

“Kai. Amatus.” He smoothed his hair into place again. It was still damp enough that little spikes of it wouldn’t cooperate. “Much as I dislike even saying these words, we need to talk.”

I squinted at him. “About what?” No one ever said _we need to talk_ when they had something good to say.

“About your decision-making today. Do you have any _idea_ what you’ve done to yourself? What you’ve opened yourself up to?”

I considered saying something flip and irreverent, but he looked truly upset. “Of course I do, but I had to, Dorian.”

“No you _didn’t._ Morrigan was right there all but begging for the chance to drink that cursed Well.”

“That’s part of what gave me pause. She was _too_ eager. I don’t trust her agenda. She says it’s out of a desire to preserve knowledge, but if you ask me there’s a lot of self-serving bollocks she’s not telling us.”

“Agreed she’s not trustworthy, but considering some of the people you’ve coopted into this organization, that argument really doesn’t hold water. She could have been monitored with very little extra effort. From what I hear Leliana’s already having her watched.” 

“I know, but it was my responsibility ,” I said patiently.  “Like it or not, I lead this effort against Corypheus and I can’t ask anyone else to put themselves in that kind of danger.”

“Yes you _can_ ,” Dorian snapped. “It’s called _delegating_ and you do it all the time.”

“Not for something that big and that magical.” I swallowed beer, feeling very pleased with my level of responsible altruism.

Dorian barked an angry laugh and stood, pacing over to the fireplace and back. I felt I had to stay seated, as pacing was usually _my_ thing when I got angry. He glared down at me.

“Kai Trevelyan, you lie,” he pronounced. 

“How can you say that?”

“Because I _know_ you. I know you intimately in every sense of the word and you did not insist on drinking that bloody thing out of nobility or altruism.” He folded his arms across his chest as though challenging me to disagree.

“Oh? Then why did I?” I glared back at him.

“Because Morrigan pissed you off,” he said with precise triumph.

“Huh?” I retorted eloquently.

“I dare you to deny it. I was right there. I heard every word she said. She was being high-handed and insufferably superior, saying that you had neither the ability nor understanding to handle it, insulting you as a mage and a man and she pissed you off. You insisted out of pique.” His grey eyes met mine confidently.

“I,” I began and stopped. 

He widened his eyes at me: _Yes?_

 _Shite._ “All right, yes, I admit it. She pissed me off.” I looked away from him and drank more of my beer.

“Thank you for being honest.” He sat back down, turning so he could face me. “But amatus, would you please consider for one moment what you’ve _done_? Not only do we not know what effect the Well itself may have on you and your psyche, but you’ve put yourself in service to an elven god. They do not have a track record of being the kindest and most stable of beings.”

I resisted the urge to stop talking and sulk. I knew he was right, but I kind of hated to admit how right he was. I settled for fidgeting. “I know I probably should have listened to you, love, but…I did feel it was my responsibility too, you know.”

“And if she’d asked nicely?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I probably would have let her,” I said with a sigh.

He shook his head mournfully. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”

I gave him my best contrite look. “Whatever you like?”

“You’ll not sway me from being cross with you that easily. Your life is dangerous enough without you _volunteering_ to get yourself compromised or killed.” 

He finished his wine and poured himself another glass, taking a few extra moments to swish it around and delicately sniff at it. I waited quietly for once rather than make comments about how all the swishing and sniffing in the world wouldn’t change the fact that it’s all just fermented grapes. 

He finally turned back to me, his face set and angry. “I already saw you nearly die once.  I cannot begin to fully describe the feeling I had when we didn’t know if you were going to make it. It made me feel sick and scared and _gutted_. It is a feeling I hope never to experience again.  So if your own sense of self-preservation takes a holiday, I would ask you do me the courtesy of _listening_ when I ask you to not do something unnecessarily hazardous. “

I shifted on the couch so I was facing him too. “I’m sorry.  I should have listened to you, and if I had it to do again I would let Morrigan bloody drink it and spend the rest of her life beholden to her mother. But I can’t exactly take it back now.”

“No, you can’t, can you.” His expression softened and he sighed.

“Will you at least admit Morrigan was being obnoxious enough that she deserved to not get her way?” I said.

He glared at me again but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You are incorrigible. “

“And?”

“And yes, her eternal assumption that no mage anywhere could be as adept and informed as she is exasperating.  But we could have just snubbed her at parties, you know.”

“I know. Not every snap decision I make is a good one.”

“May I ask how you and the elven collective are getting on?” He said it lightly, but he looked concerned.

I ran a hand across my head, thinking irrelevantly that it was about time to shave it again. “I don’t think either one of us is thrilled,” I said. I described that sensation that I was on the other side of the wall from a party, finishing with “It’s distracting. I haven’t quite been able to block them all night, but I think that’s because I’m tired. I’m hoping the beer will help.” I followed that thought with opening another bottle.

“That’s a temporary fix if it’s one at all.” He stroked the patch of hair just below his lower lip, thinking. “I could help you build a better mental barrier if you like.”

“You know how to do that?” I blinked and my eyes watered. I wiped them with the back of my hand. “I mean, obviously you do, but I meant in a way that you can do it for others as well?”

“It’s never been a specialty, but I’m not too shabby at it. We’re close enough that it should make it easier to work with you.” His eyes were already shining with that enthusiasm he has for anything magical.

I smiled. “Well, there’s no one else I’d let go rummaging about in my mind.”

“Might I remind you that’s precisely what you managed to do to yourself today?” he said drily.

I groaned. “And I already regret it. Can we thicken the wall around the party before I get reminded again that I fucked up? If it makes you feel any better, they’ve been giving me a nagging headache all evening.”

“I do not delight in your suffering unless it’s something we’ve planned ahead of time.” He gave me an arch look and smoothed his moustache then turned businesslike. “Now let’s soundproof their party room, shall we?”

We spent a few minutes discussing how best to go about that. Neither one of us was highly skilled at mind magic and knew quite a bit more in theory than in practice. 

“But it’s not _entirely_ mind magic,” Dorian said. “I mean, yes, it’s technically in your mind, but we’re just building a barrier and that’s something we both know how to do easily.”

“ _Is_ it in my mind?” I wondered. “I mean, it’s _somewhere_ associated with me, but can we truly approach it or wall it off with mind magic?”

Dorian swished his wine again as he thought. I sniffed and once again failed to see what he found so attractive in its smell. “Well, it’s giving you a headache, yes?”

“You think it follows that we can approach it because of that?”

“I think our intent will shape the magic enough that we can do what we set out to.” Even though he was cross with me, his enthusiasm was improving his mood. Just as well, since mind magic demands a degree of calm to execute safely.

“Then let’s do this,” I said. “They’re a noisy lot and most of them seem to be whinging.”

He scooched closer and we got comfortable and grasped each other’s forearms. Once physically connected, we slid into a state somewhere between sleeping and waking where we could best connect both mentally and magically. It both was and wasn’t like going into the Fade in dreams and I think I lack the words to describe it properly. 

I can tell you the fact that we’re already so bonded to one another made it unimaginably easier to connect and do what we wanted to do. Normally, trying to do what amounts to a sort of cooperative mind magic with another person is difficult and rather exhausting, as there’s always some resistance to letting someone’s essence get that close to your own. It’s much more intimate than sex (and before you ask, yes, mind rape is a real thing and it’s horrendous). Instead of resistance, we welcomed each other; Dorian’s essence was just as lovely as the rest of him and the main danger we faced was getting distracted by the sheer pleasure and novelty of it all. 

I’ll try my best to explain what we did without getting too technical. Essentially, with Dorian accompanying me and lending his power and skill to me, we went into that part of my mind where the collective had set up camp and strengthened the barrier separating them from me. What we didn’t expect was the feeling that the collective was helping, adding their own barriers from their side. It appeared they were no more delighted with their new situation than we.

The extra help made the process surprisingly easy, and within an hour we had something strong and lasting set up. There was enough porousness that the collective and I were still aware of each other, and could speak if we felt any need, but if there was no need we could essentially ignore each other and go about our lives (or whatever they considered their existence to be—afterlife?) without interference.

As we came back to the real world, I couldn’t quite believe the level of relief I felt. I’d had no idea how intrusive the collective had been until they shut up.

Dorian gave his head a shake and grinned. “ _Venhedis_ , that was…well, I’ve never experienced anything quite so…” he gestured in a vaguely all-encompassing way.

I breathed in deep and exhaled slowly. “Agreed. It even left _you_ without words.” I grinned as he gave me a mock glare. “If it was that good when we’re tired and beat up and building barriers…you know we need to do that again.”

“Along _with_ more conventional activities.”

“Of course. There’s much to be said for conventional activities.” I smoothed a bit of his hair that was sticking straight up before retrieving my half-finished beer and re-chilling it. “Maker, what a relief.”

“Quieter now?” He poured a fresh glass of wine as I nodded. “Now we just have to worry about this geas you’ve acquired.”

I groaned. “Must we? I can’t imagine what Mythal could use me for.”

“You also said you couldn’t imagine how you could make any difference whatever in world events when you went to the Conclave.”

I gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Yes, but that whole thing was an accident. It all happened because I got lost on the way back from using the facilities.”

“Well, I shall be forever grateful that your sense of direction leaves something to be desired.” He leaned in for a kiss, so of course I obliged him. We did that for a bit then separated for a drink.

“What if she makes you do something cruel or unconscionable?” he asked.

“Dorian, could we please not go there right now?” I didn’t want to think about it because he was right. “I’m tired and feel wrung out enough without starting to worry about bloody Mythal tonight.”

He ran a hand along my thigh and gave me a small smile. “Fair enough. Perhaps we should get more comfortable instead. We can sit on the bed and gossip about the no doubt numerous peccadillos going on here at Skyhold and whether Josie really does have little soaps in the shapes of flowers and daft animals.”

“Sounds wonderful. I suppose Morrigan did us a favour, getting us back to Skyhold, though I’m sure she didn’t have our happiness and well-being in mind.”

“ _I’m_ sure she would have happily left you in the Crossroads if she could have. Perhaps we should feel lucky we didn’t pass through them this time. You know, we should probably spare a sympathetic thought for everyone who’s having to make the trek back from the Arbor Wilds the old-fashioned way. A toast may be in order.”

“A toast it is. May they take their time getting back.” We raised our respective drinks.

“Are you serious about not letting Josie and Leliana make you do things?” He took a sip of wine as I nodded. “Then we should go somewhere. There must be _somewhere_ warmer within a few days’ ride and it’s the only way you can be sure you won’t get drafted.”

“Maker, you’re right. We should leave as soon as possible. I haven’t been on an actual holiday for years.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So you admit to having holidayed before, do you?”

I gave him a sultry smirk back. “Oh yes. You wouldn’t believe the sorts of resorts I’ve found myself in.”

“Experienced heretofore unheard-of levels of carousal, have you?” He smiled and lowered the lights a bit with a thought.

“You have no idea.”  With the lights turned down, the firelight painted the planes of Dorian’s face in tones of shifting gold and made his eyes - a lighter shade of grey than mine - look exotic and mysterious. I never tire of looking at him.

“I’m still cross with you, you know.”

“I know. But you also love me.”

“It’s _because_ I love you that I’m still cross with you.”

“Yes, but if you try to punish me by ignoring me, you’ll only be depriving yourself of both my abject apologies and a perfectly lovely holiday,” I pointed out. 

“You are taking shameless advantage of my inability to shun you to escape any consequences.”

“I _said_ I’ll apologize. Repeatedly if need be.”

He affected deep thought for a few moments. “Well, when you put it that way…perhaps you should make a few preliminary apologies for not listening to me in the first place.”

I stood and stretched. Mythal could wait.

And she undoubtedly would. As a god, she had all the time in the world.

But I had Dorian and we had an unexpected week to ourselves stretching before us, and for the moment, that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Scenes From an Inquisition came about because I didn't want to write an adaption of a playthrough of DAI, but there are in-between scenes that happened off-camera / out of game that I wanted to explore.
> 
> Each scene is complete and, depending on the content, may stick close to or stray far from canon. They will also vary in rating and complexity of plot. They likely won't be in strict chronological order.They all supplement the rest of the series of works featuring Kai Trevelyan, but can all be read as stand-alones.
> 
> Thanks to Eureka234 for the beta!
> 
> As always, feedback is welcomed!


End file.
